Outdoors Notebook — Trout derbies, Red River fly-tying, DU dinners

The local wintertime put-and-take trout season continues to roll on, and with it, there’s the approach of another trout derby in Denison.

That’s the annual Family Fellowship Trout Derby, scheduled to take place next Saturday morning, Jan. 29, 2022 from 9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. at Waterloo Lake Park Pond.

The derby is open to all ages with resident youth entry fees being $5 each while resident adults pay $7 each. Non-resident youth pay $7 and non-resident adults pay $10 for entry fees.

As has often been the case in the past, there will be a number of prizes for different categories like biggest stringer, biggest trout, smallest trout, etc. Prizes will also be awarded to winners in the Casting Contest and door prizes will be given out as well.

According to the Denison Parks and Recreation Department, there will also be food and drink provided and the first 50 paid entrants will get a free special “150” themed cap as the City of Denison celebrates its Sesquicentennial birthday this year.

City officials note that each participant must provide their own basket and/or stringer; all state fishing regulations apply; and participants will need a valid Texas fishing license if they are 17 years of age or older.

After next weekend’s Family Fellowship Trout Derby, the city’s annual Youth Trout Derby will be up next month on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022. That contest will be for youth 16 years of age and younger only, with resident youth paying a $5 entry fee and non-resident youth paying a $7 entry fee.

For more information, visit the City of Denison’s website at https://www.cityofdenison.com/parksrec/page/fishing-derbies or call 903-465-2720 during business hours.

RRFF Fly Tying Event — As hunting seasons start to fade, fishing season is approaching very quickly here in Texomaland.

And to help local fly anglers get ready for spring fishing opportunities, the Red River Fly Fishers are planning their annual Red River Rendezvous Fly Tying Extravaganza for the weekend of Feb. 4-5, 2022 at Eisenhower State Park’s Recreation Hall.

As noted previously, the 2022 event returns after being postponed in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the RRFF.org website, the event’s fly tying setup is from 2-7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 4. Dinner will be provided, but fly tiers will need to bring their own drinks.

The next day on Saturday, Feb. 5, the day’s fly tying extravaganza — which has often attracted some of the sport’s biggest names in North Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana — will run from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. Breakfast and lunch are provided, but again, drinks are not.

Park admission is $5 for adults, although children 12 and under are admitted for free. If you have an annual Texas Parks and Wildlife Department state park admission’s pass for 2022, that will get you through the door too.

For information, visit the Red River Fly Fisher’s website at www.rrff.org or e-mail the group at rrflyfishers@yahoo.com.

Local DU Events Approach — As January prepares to turn into February, it's time to start talking about Ducks Unlimited’s late winter and spring fundraising events here in the Texomaland area.

While there’s no word yet on the date, time, and place for the annual Texoma DU Couple’s Event, there are plans in place already for the annual Red River Valley DU Dinner over in Cooke County.

This year's Gainesville DU dinner — which will only be selling tables this year due to limited seating — is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 19 beginning at 6 p.m. According to organizers, eight person tables are $500 and 12 person tables are $700 for the event at the Gainesville Civic Center.

For more information on the Gainesville DU Dinner, please visit the DU event website at https://ducksunlimited.myeventscenter.com/event/Red-River-Valley-Dinner-Gainesville-54257 or call Jared Groce at 940-390-0081 or Phil Bellows at 940-736-3885.

Pro Bass Circuits Heat Up — This year’s professional bass derbies on the Bass Pro Tour, the Major League Fishing Tackle Warehouse Circuit (formerly the FLW Tour), and the Bassmaster Elite Series are all gearing up to kick off their 2022 seasons in the next several weeks.

First up is the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit as it makes a season opening stop at Sam Rayburn Reservoir for the Jan. 27-30 Guaranteed Rate Stop 1 event.

After that, the MLF Bass Pro Tour season kicks off with the season opening Stage One event on Caney Creek/Lake D'Arbonne/Bussey Brake in West Monroe, La. from Feb. 5-10. A few days later, the BPT pros will invade East Texas as the circuit's Stage Two event will be held out of Quitman, Texas from Feb. 19-24 at Lake Fork.

One of the season's biggest events, the 2022 REDCREST Championship, will be held March 23-27 out of Tulsa as 41 BPT pros vie for the title on Oklahoma's Grand Lake. And then on April 9-14, the BPT pros will head for Tyler, Texas where they will participate in the Heavy Hitters Event on Lake Palestine. For details, on any of those events, please visit www.majorleaguefishing.com.

The B.A.S.S. circuits — namely the Opens, the Elite Series, and even the Kayak Series — will all be heating up in coming weeks too. That includes a couple of stops here in Texas as the Bassmaster Kayak Series derby will take place at Lake Fork from Feb. 5-6. Lake Fork will also host the 2022 Simms Bassmaster Elite Series derby out of Quitman on Lake Fork from May 19-22.

And finally, don’t forget the 52nd Bassmaster Classic, which is about a month and a half away, sponsored this year by Academy Sports + Outdoors and presented by Huk.

This year’s Super Bowl of Bass Fishing will take place from March 4-6 at Lake Hartwell in Greenville, S.C. That's where Hank Cherry, winner of the last two Classic titles including last June at Lake Ray Roberts, will try to become the first angler in B.A.S.S. history to capture three Classic titles in a row. For information on all of the B.A.S.S. events mentioned above, please visit www.bassmaster.com.

This article originally appeared on Herald Democrat: Outdoors Notes Denison trout derbies Red River rendezvous DU dinners